Customer Reviews

Book of Secrets (Bonus Dvd)

5 star:		(442)
4 star:		(34)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Loreena McKennitt is a singer songwriter who defies generalizations. While primarily in the Celtic tradition, she is always pushing the borders. Sometimes traditional and sometimes completely inventive she is capable of perpetual surprises.

"The Book of Secrets" is a musical journey through the relatives and contemporaries of the Celtic tradition. She mixes themes from Europe and Near East with the rhythmic and instrumental approaches of the Celtic world. The effect is hypnotic. The eerie and contemplative 'Prologue' shifts to the strong melodic work of 'The Mummers' Dance' recalling ancient spring rituals of rebirth. 'Skellig' has an almost Renaissance flavor as it voices the contemplative farewell song of an Italian monk.

'Marco Polo' echoes Oriental touches with Sufi melodies, capturing the ecstatic nature of that tradition perfectly. The, in an almost magical transition McKennitt switches to one of my favorites, 'The Highwayman.' This is a resetting of an Alfred Noyes poem, a dramatic stories of sacrifice and vengeance over melodic fiddle work and dancing drums. 'La Serenissima' is a return to the medieval contemplative, playing harp and fiddle against each other.

'Night Ride Across the Caucasus' uses Asiatic styling over the pulsing beat of horses in motion to recall the spiritual journey of the alchemist and the quest of the mystic. 'Dante's Prayer,' the final song of the album, is another personal favorite. Occasioned by a trip across the Russian Steppes it opens with an echo of Russian Orthodox melody and then shifts to a melodic, contemporary sound as McKennitt voice sings a beautiful plaint that echoes the love songs of Sufi poetry, whose object is the Beloved, the divine. "Cast your eyes on the ocean, Cast your soul to the sea," she sings, "When the dark night seems endless, Please remember me."

Recording quality is immaculate, with a fine atmospheric aura. McKennit's voice is soft and full, possibly the best I've ever hear hit. Her skill as a lyricist is every bit as good as her musical talents. This is an extraordinary album which will provide countless hours of pleasure and thought. Enjoy.

Ah, what a wonderful album. Loreena McKennitt's voice is a marvel, synthesizing the superhuman accuracy and strength of operatic soprano with the rich narrative quality of folk singers. Her skill as a composer is likewise impressive, as she stacks ethnic influences on a foundation of tried-and-true Celtic resources that makes for beautiful and compelling songcraft. The pristine recording quality heightens the album's mystique, making every instrument perfectly clear in even the broadest arrangement.

And isn't that voice beautiful?

Each song tells its own story, but the beautiful, exotic soundscapes lend themselves very much to the listener's imagination. "Marco Polo" might evoke images of Oriental landscapes, while "Skellig" generates lamenting -- and somewhat romantic -- imagery. If the gorgeous and elegiac "Dante's Prayer" doesn't give you goosebumps, you must be a zombie. Especially noteworthy is the tragic ballad "The Highwayman" set to music. This ten-minute piece seems a bit repetitive for the first few listens, although you'll later find that the immaculately crafted composition subtly builds in intensity, adding the presence of stronger percussion and a more desperate, emotional flavor. I can't explain it, but "Night Ride Across the Caucasus" means a lot to me deep down. It must be something in the heavenly poetry, the exquisite melodies, or the stunning vocals. The chorus really is the best thing ever...well, almost!

And she sings like an angel, doesn't she?

Additionally, this CD features a great set of liner notes that sports little bits from McKennitt's journals, highlighting some of the influences for these songs, which I found very interesting. Some of those ethnic touches are hard to put your finger on, so having it pointed out helps. Great cover art too...really sets the tone for the album, I think.

And her voice sure is gorgeous, isn't it?

Who would not want to read a book of secrets...Except, this is one you listen to.
"The journey not the destination, becomes a source of wonder."

Loreena McKennitt spent a few years thinking about Celtic nomadic ways. She wondered if this need arose from an insatiable curiosity. She set off to travel to Rome and ended up in Istanbul. She set off for Japan and ended up on a train across Siberia. The CD booklet, is interesting to read as you listen and reveals her sources of inspiration. Of course after reading the booklet, you might feel compelled to go off on your own journey

The songs on this album are all a reflection of Loreena's knowledge of the world. She seems to be seeking, exploring possibilities and expressing what she has captured.

1. Prologue - inspired by "From The Holy Mountain" by William Dalrymple. There is a certain emptiness and remorse woven into this piece. Maybe a longing for what could have been. You can almost imagine monks traveling from monastery to monastery to collect ancient wisdom.

2. The Mummers' Dance - Loreena incorporated the chorus of a traditional mumming song and her words take on new meaning when you realize that mumming involves a group of performers who dress up in masks and clothes bedecked with ribbons and carrying branches of greenery. This "mumming" has its roots in tree worshiping, which will make you consider why you bring a tree in at Christmas time, at least it is worth considering. Although I think people are more interested in worshipping materialism at the malls.

3. Skellig - this song becomes almost hypnotic as it seems to spin in circles or maybe it is more like the flicker of a candle that grows brighter as you approach it on a dark night.

4. Marco Polo - Loreena has interwoven an authentic Sulfi melody at the beginning and middle of this piece. It is rather intoxicating.

5. The Highwayman - friends suggested setting Alfred Noyes' poem "The Highwayman" to music. While in the studio, Loreena imagined the sound of horses galloping down a moonlit lane. Best to listen to this song while reading the lyrics, which are included and paint a tragic tale even more dramatically in song.

6. La Serenissima - Delicate and haunting.

7. Night Ride Across the Caucasus - the notes explain how people are affected by music and either hear the spiritual meaning or the material sound.

"In the velvet of the darkness
By the silhouette of silent trees
They are watching, they are waiting
They are witnessing life's mysteries."

8. Dante's Prayer - inspired by Dante's The Divine Comedy (a vernacular poem in 100 cantos), Loreena thinks about the human condition and how we all want to believe there is a place better than our own. An almost sorrowful and yet hopeful melody. Italian poet, Dante (1265-1321) gave an explanation of what happens after we die and this question is still just as controversial today.

Perhaps she was inspired by: "Temo di perder viver tra coloro, che questo tempo chiameranno Antico." (I fear I will lose life among those who will call this time ancient." She sings "Please remember me." She also speaks of "Beyond the ice and the fire." The innermost pit of hell is for Dante, ice. The dark woods implies the present state of mankind and when you think about this while listening, the words suddenly become more meaningful.

I found this CD to be an expression of continuing knowledge. Knowledge from the past flows through Loreena McKennitt's consciousness and turns into music. It is an evolution of travel and contemplation. Through her experiences, music evolves into moments of pure beauty.

~The Rebecca Review

I first heard the song Mummer's Dance on the trailer for the movie "Ever After". After doing some investigation, I was able to find the CD and I immediately ordered it. Boy am I glad I did! The music is so beautiful, I find every song a completely different tone and melody. It's perfect for listening to while reading. Strangely though, I found 4 songs on the CD that I like better than Mummer's Dance. I would say, in order, my 5 favorites are : (7) Night Ride across the Caucasus (It is so haunting and wonderful, I absolutely LOVE it!) (3) Skellig (I love the story-telling aspect of this song, it really make you feel like you are really there) (8) Dante's Prayer (This song is so soft and soothing, it makes a perfect ending) (5) The Highwayman (McKinnett turned this poem into something so realistic you feel like you are there) (2) Mummer's Dance. Perhaps it's the fact I have heard Mummer's Dance the most that makes me like it less. This album is wonderful, and about two weeks after you have it you will start to crave all of her other CD's!

This was the first Loreena CD I got, after hearing "The Mummer's Dance" on the radio. With each subsequent listen over the course of the last several years, I find myself loving this disc more and more. The music has more of a Middle-Eastern texture than most of her earlier work, and the sound quality is, in my opinion better as well, allowing the listener to hear Loreena's glorious voice like never before.

1.) Prologue is a piece that beautifully sets the mood for this dramatic set. Mostly instrumental, with some of Loreena's lovely vocalizations.

2.) The Mummer's Dance is why I, and so many others, bought this in the first place. The instrumentals are great (especially the fiddle when she sings how "sounds of birds seem to fill the woods when the fiddler plays"), and the lyrics are fun and catchy. That said, this track is no longer by any means my favorite on here. It was, for the most part, the hook that reeled my in.

3.) Skellig is a quiet piece...in fact, a little too quiet for my taste, but perfect for relaxing or meditating or getting a massage.

4.) Marco Polo...now that's more like it. An Eastern-flavored dance beat that makes you want to go and take bellydancing lessons. The drums in here are my favorites. This is basically another instrumental that features wordless vocalizations from Loreena.

5.) Highwayman--well, there are really no words for the beauty of this song. Based on Tennyson's poem, with haunting instrumentals, this ballad will have you on the edge of your seat, even if you've heard it before and KNOW the ending. Try not to start biting your fingernails when she sings "Tot-a-lot, tot-a-lot, had they heard it, the horse's hooves rang clear..."

6.) A lovely, sweet song, in the same line as Skellig. Moody and lush. Great for a rainy evening at home.

7.) Night Ride Across the Caucasus is not only my favorite song on this album, it is my favorite Loreena McKennitt song and one of my favorite songs of all time. It is a dark song about traveling at night that makes you feel like you are driving through the desert or the mountains. (For any and all interested, this was the song that was played in the movie Soldier, and it is NOT on that soundtrack.)

8.) Dante's Prayer is one of the most haunting love songs I've ever heard. Based, of course, on the Divine Comedy, this song is pure poetry, with lines like "when the dark night seems endless, please remember me."

The liner notes in this album are also great...like The Mask and the Mirror, they form a sort of diary of Loreena's travels, and show what influenced the writing of these gorgeous songs.

People, if I could give this more than five stars, I would.

Loreena McKennitt is one of my favorite artists. "The Book of Secrets" is a wonderful variety of sounds from the haunting strains of "Prologue" to the irresistibly rhythmic "Marco Polo." All of the tracks are well-constructed musically, and the Middle Eastern influence gives her Celtic-inspired music a special flair. I particularly enjoyed "The Mummers' Dance" and the heartbreaking story of the wandering monk set to the soul-deep music of "Skellig." "Dante's Prayer" is such a beautiful piece; the first time I heard it, it moved me to tears.

If you are trying to decide whether or not you want to add this CD to your collection, let me say in no uncertain terms that you should do so immediately. You will not be sorry. It is a brilliant effort by McKennitt, worth every penny and then some.

We sure were predisposed to like the film "Ever After" when we saw the trailer and heard "The Mummer's Dance" used as the introductory music. Loreena McKennitt's "The Book of Secrets" CD is one of my favorite early morning albums with a rather unique fusion of Celtic melodies with Middle Eastern rhythms best represented on "Marco Polo." I also like the Russian flavor on "Night Ride Across the Caucaus," which just makes me more appreciative of McKennitt's ability to adapt music from different traditions to her own ends (similar to what Paul Simon did in South Africa or Page & Plant in Northern Africa).

McKennitt can also use her voice to nice effect, even without lyrics as she does in the "Prologue." The longest track on the album is her adaptation of the Alfred Noyes poem "The Highwayman." That poem was an elementary school staple when I was a mere lad, but it has probably long since disappeared from the curriculum. To those of us who had to memorize parts of the darn thing thirty years ago there is certainly a nostalgic quality to listening to her abridgment (take special notice of how drums are used in the background in the last stanzas).

A special treat are McKennitt's liner notes, when she explains where she was (Istanbul, Tuscany, etc.), what she was reading, and what she was thinking when she composed these songs. Such insights into the songwriter's craft are always appreciated but usually not so elegant.

If you like this album, I would suggest you check out "The Mask And Mirror" next. Thanks.

Gimme a break. 211 reviews and still an average of 5 stars. Why am I even bothering?

Because I'm gonna get my 2 cents in, that's why!

What. A. Voice. This woman is incredible. Anybody who could give this album less than 4 stars better have some serious justification, and you can bet it'll be unique. This music is at times uplifting, vivacious, provocative, sad, wow-inducing, or just plain beautiful. As much as people complain about "The Highwayman" for its length, I will gladly listen to that voice for 10 minutes. Or 50. Or 180. Plus, the poem is that long. What's she supposed to do, cut it?

I don't think I need to say anything about "The Mummer's Dance." Wow. Oops, I said something.

Some of the music on here makes me want to dance (very impressive considering I am a white male who doesn't KNOW how to dance) and ALL of it makes me want to sing along (albeit an octave or two lower). I'd pay good money for this CD. Good thing I already have it.

In this remarkable album, LM continues her journey from traditional Irish-Celtic melodies toward distinct, hypnotic works richly layered with Middle Eastern and European sounds. (The variety of instruments listed in the liner notes is staggering--who but LM could integrate the harp, kanoun, cello, bodrahn, tin whistle, shawm, etc.? What is a shawm, anyway?) Through it all, though, McKennitt's hauntingly angelic voice guides, caresses and inspires, whether portraying a dying monk in "Skellig" or the Italian poet in "Dante's Prayer" or narrating Alfred Noyes' dark, engaging ballad "The Highwayman" for ten minutes of stark, vivid storytelling.

Each of the three instrumental tracks--"Prologue," "Marco Polo" and "La Serenissima"--is beautiful and captivating in its own right. The hypnotic "Prologue" sets the mood for the entire album, with LM's voice emerging mid-way through to complete the enchantment. The exotic "Marco Polo" has its own magic: you have to move, however slightly, while it plays. Finally, the languid, violin-borne "La Serenissima" delicately evokes the spirit of Renaissance-era Venice: distant music over torch-lit waters.

There is no mediocre track present here. That said, the most splendid is the last, "Dante's Prayer." Following the breathtaking voices of the St. Petersburg Chamber Choir, LM's own rises, tender and pleading and pure: "Cast your eyes to the ocean, cast your soul to the sea. When the dark night seems endless, please remember me." I do not know that there is a more beautiful song in my entire collection.

Like most, if not all of her albums, this is best appreciated at night, perhaps with wine and candlelight and thoughts turning to far-away worlds, heaven among them. As in her previous album, "The Mask & The Mirror," LM writes lyrics of deep spiritual longing, here heightened by the allegory of travel. (She sings in "Skellig" of "rivers running deep, beneath an endless sky"--and they appear.)

If civilization endures, justice demands that these songs endure also. I believe they are timeless. Certainly, the essence of timelessness pervades them. I give this album my very highest endorsement and await her next, not quite daring to hope that it can surpass The Book of Secrets.

Who would not want to read a book of secrets...Except, this is one you listen to.

"The journey not the destination, becomes a source of wonder."

Loreena McKennitt spent a few years thinking about Celtic nomadic ways. She wondered if this need arose from an insatiable curiosity. She set off to travel to Rome and ended up in Istanbul. She set off for Japan and ended up on a train across Siberia. The CD booklet, is interesting to read as you listen and reveals her sources of inspiration. Of course after reading the booklet, you might feel compelled to go off on your own journey

The songs on this album are all a reflection of Loreena's knowledge of the world. She seems to be seeking, exploring possibilities and expressing what she has captured.

1. Prologue - inspired by "From The Holy Mountain" by William Dalrymple. There is a certain emptiness and remorse woven into this piece. Maybe a longing for what could have been. You can almost imagine monks traveling from monastery to monastery to collect ancient wisdom.

2. The Mummers' Dance - Loreena incorporated the chorus of a traditional mumming song and her words take on new meaning when you realize that mumming involves a group of performers who dress up in masks and clothes bedecked with ribbons and carrying branches of greenery. This "mumming" has its roots in tree worshiping, which will make you consider why you bring a tree in at Christmas time, at least it is worth considering. Although I think people are more interested in worshipping materialism at the malls.

3. Skellig - this song becomes almost hypnotic as it seems to spin in circles or maybe it is more like the flicker of a candle that grows brighter as you approach it on a dark night.

4. Marco Polo - Loreena has interwoven an authentic Sulfi melody at the beginning and middle of this piece. It is rather intoxicating.

5. The Highwayman - friends suggested setting Alfred Noyes' poem "The Highwayman" to music. While in the studio, Loreena imagined the sound of horses galloping down a moonlit lane. Best to listen to this song while reading the lyrics, which are included and paint a tragic tale even more dramatically in song.

6. La Serenissima - Delicate and haunting.

7. Night Ride Across the Caucasus - the notes explain how people are affected by music and either hear the spiritual meaning or the material sound.

"In the velvet of the darkness
By the silhouette of silent trees
They are watching, they are waiting
They are witnessing life's mysteries."

8. Dante's Prayer - inspired by Dante's The Divine Comedy (a vernacular poem in 100 cantos), Loreena thinks about the human condition and how we all want to believe there is a place better than our own. An almost sorrowful and yet hopeful melody. Italian poet, Dante (1265-1321) gave an explanation of what happens after we die and this question is still just as controversial today.

Perhaps she was inspired by: "Temo di perder viver tra coloro, che questo tempo chiameranno Antico." (I fear I will lose life among those who will call this time ancient." She sings "Please remember me." She also speaks of "Beyond the ice and the fire." The innermost pit of hell is for Dante, ice. The dark woods implies the present state of mankind and when you think about this while listening, the words suddenly become more meaningful.

I found this CD to be an expression of continuing knowledge. Knowledge from the past flows through Loreena McKennitt's consciousness and turns into music. It is an evolution of travel and contemplation. Through her experiences, music evolves into moments of pure beauty.

Inspirational and Deeply Calming.

~The Rebecca Review